Can I Vote After I Go To The Bathroom?
November 2nd, 2008 by Cali & Jody
It should be no surprise, and yet we’re flabbergasted. In traditional work environments where everything is dictated - when you need to be in your chair, when you can leave, whether you can spend an hour to go to the doctor - why wouldn’t voting time be part of the dictated rules?
In a country where democracy has been best described by Abraham Lincoln as “government of the people, by the people, and for the people”, a requirement is that the people decide who their leaders will be. And the setup is a good one: On Nov. 4th, there will be voting booths ready for the swarms of people that will descend on them throughout the country. We have a system set up for people who aren’t able to make it to their designated voting booths. And yet one thing remains a gigantic roadblock: Employees being treated like children not capable of making decisions about when they vote.
There are specific state laws that outline how employers must respond to an employee’s desire to vote. Find your state’s law here.
We were shocked to see our own state of MN’s law:
Minnesota - An employee has a right to be absent from work for the purpose of voting “during the morning of” election day. This time off is paid. (Minn. Stat. Section 204C.04)
So even if I decide, based on whatever else is going on in my work and my life, that the afternoon is a better time for me to vote, the law doesn’t cover that?
A couple other state laws worth mentioning:
Alabama - Employees are given “necessary” time off to vote, not to exceed one hour. The employee must give reasonable notice to get the time off. However, if the polls open at least two hours before the employee starts work and close at least one hour after the employee ends work, the employer doesn’t have to give the employee time off. The statute doesn’t specify if the time off is paid. (Ala. Code Section 17-1-5)
Wisconsin - Employees are allowed up to three hours to vote if the request for time off is made prior to election day. The employer may specify the time to be taken by the employee to vote. This time off is unpaid. (Wis. Stat. Ann. Section 6.76)
We must add that we received a note from a Twitter friend that these laws are actually to protect employees, and that companies that would obstruct employees’ desire to vote probably wouldn’t be too into ROWE anyway. Point taken. However, it’s a sad commentary on our society when voting, the cornerstone to the sustainment of our democracy, is prohibited during “work hours” by power-hungry, ignorant managers and the companies they work for who support this tiresome patriarchal behavior.
Perhaps we should add Guidepost #14: Imagine a place where you can decide when you want to vote, don’t have to ask permission, and don’t need to stress out about whether or not you’ll get paid for the entire day.
We’d love to hear what you think of your state’s law and if you have stories about voting during “work hours”, do share!
The federal government’s rule for federal workers is similar to Alabama’s… Isn’t that sad… even workers of the Federal Government can’t get time off to vote. Not that they should get special treatment, but considering elections greatly affect their employment specifically, you’d think there’d at least be a “vote anytime during the day” kind of rule.
New York (one of the handful of states that does not allow early voting, so who knows how long lines will be!) says:
“If you do not have sufficient time outside your working hours to vote, you may take off up to two (2) hours at the beginning or end of your shift, with pay, to allow you time to vote. Sufficient time is defined as four consecutive hours either between the opening of the polls and the beginning of the working shift OR between the end of the working shift and the closing of the polls. You must notify your employer no more than 10 or not fewer than 2 days before the day of election that you will take that time.”
So, for example, if you try to beat the crowds and go get in line when the polls open at 6AM and still have to wait in a long line and call and say, “I’m going to be a little late for my 9AM start time,” and didn’t warn your boss 48 hours beforehand, the company could, technically, refuse to pay you. I mean, I can’t imagine the place I work would refuse to do so. But still… kind of extreme. I mean, how can you know in advance how long you’re going to have to wait in line?
“We have a system set up for people who aren’t able to make it to their designated voting booths”???
What about early voting? Absentee voting? If you have common sense and you work for an inflexible employer, there are ways to vote. I agree that the state by state laws to allow for voting on Election Day are not a solution, but they are better than nothing. If voting is important to you, you will find a way to cast your ballot. Like ROWE, if you care about results, you will get your vote cast!
Also, I think photo ID should be mandatory to vote. While the vast majority of folks are honest, there are some that do not respect the law.
In 1964 (I think), we got rid of poll taxes because a tax to be able to vote is ridiculous.
Yet, as Jesse G. notes, we will find a way to vote — by having to take vacation or sick time off of work. This is a poll tax, no other way around it. And it shouldn’t be this way.
There are some strong arguments for unifying the voting process at the federal level and not at the state level. But Oregon and, to a lesser extent, the State of Washington have a good model: early voting by mail.
Voting by mail is simple, convenient, and takes away all of those nasty arguments about getting time off from work. Or photo ID’s. Or all those other tactics that suppress the turnout (often for one side).
I think the turnout Tuesday, plus early voting, will be at historic levels. That’s a great development — but shows how flawed the current process is for people to do the one thing a great democracy needs.
Good post and great link to the laws for your state.
@ Scott:
My point is that taking vacation or sick time is not necessary with the alternative options available (early voting, absentee/mail voting). Voting is everyone’s right, and everyone needs to be responsible for themselves in being prepared (to show ID in some states, requesting absentee forms, etc).
Tying back to this blog, ROWE is about results.
The way you get accurate results is by having the mechanisms in place to prevent fraud. There are people defending registration fraud by saying that just because there is fraud in registration doesn’t mean there will be in voting. Without checking identity (or voting eligibility by way of being a different person, person voting multiple times, felon, illegal alien, or dead), how do you ensure the integrity at the polls?
Everyone who wants to vote can easily vote- maybe their jobs won’t allow for a half day to wait in line at the polls. In that case, TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION (to vote early, absentee, get up early).
Happy voting!
Election Day should be a national holiday (until everyone goes ROWE)… Sure, as Jesse G says everyone can vote if they want to, but the fact is that human nature often dictates what we do, and I would imagine that there are plenty of people out there who have every intention of voting, but come election day, something comes up that will prevent thme from doing it, or the day ends and they’re just too tired to stand in line. Laziness? Maybe, turnout will never be what we want it to be until its easier for people to vote.
How supid it is in my country weekend for most of the people is a day off, and the elections are held only on weekends, even if somebody works on this time he is given a couple of hours to vote and these are paid hours
As a resident of Alabama, I have to add I heard lots of people in line who were told by this one or that one that they could not file an absentee ballot because they would not be out of their normal polling area on election day. I don’t know where that came from, but I heard that more than once, particularly yesterday.
We also use paper ballots, and a paper system of looking up names, which makes our whole process take even longer. I was third in the O-Z line and it still took a good 15 minutes to get my ballot, mark what I needed, and run it through the machine. I hope one day we get a faster system for managing votes.
In the past I have definitely not voted because I could not get to the polling place in time. We live in a rural area, and if you work in Birmingham it can take a while to get home on a good day.